How good are turbo minis as daily drivers on fuel?
Turbo Mini Forums

I have been considering v-teccing an clubby estate for use as a daily drive to the point where I nearly bought one the other day, but considering the amount of work involved in the conversion and the cost, realistically I could have a 135 bhp turbo engine quite reliably for little outlay.

So say 70% of the speed, fun and practicality could be had for much less effort and cost, as I already have all the parts required for a turbo conversion.

For ordinary driving what sort of mpg figures are people getting with say a spec similar to a 1293, mg metro cam, t3 turbo, 8.8:1 compression and 14psi boost, not forgeting megajolt. I'll run a 3.2:1 final drive.


From research people seem to be getting about 30-35 mpg, which doesn't seem a lot.

James

Edited by minimole23 on 20th Jan, 2011.

Well, when running properly I generally achieve over 40mpg on my 998T running 10psi (around 100bhp). But I'm really struggling in this cold weather with a carb problem that I can't solve, so it's running rich.

Averaging around 36mpg.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

My car is much the same as Wil's. 998T with 10psi.

I got 40mpg on a 200 mile trip from Cambridge to Warwick. This was a mixture of motorway, dual carriageway and town.

I was quite chuffed too because I wasn't taking it particularly easy on the boost.

1275 N/A Sprite, 998 T2 Turbo Mayfair
1275 EFi Turbo

Thats not sounding to great to be honest, I'd have been expecting more. Their both 998's too.

Time to do some research into vtec mini fuel consumption by the looks of it.

I think potentially my car will return 45mpg, it did 50mpg on the way to le mans.

My old 998 T was consistant at 45mpg. ust struggling with this one atm.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

Could you not get a boost controller so you can run low boost for MPG then higherboost when you want power?

Inject it?

In the 13's at last!.. Just

My right foot can modulate the boost accurately enough!

Also another key factor is the weight,pulling 750kgs with 100hp is going to use more fuel than pulling 550 for example.

is there anything that can be bought to be put inline the fuel system to show how much fuel was used??

It's about 6500 miles to payback the install of the v-tech

or 6500 miles before you have spent what the v-tech cost, depending on which way you look at it

I think.

I also think 35mpg is pessimistic for the turbo lump. If you want economy it can be tuned in.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

a standard metro turbo would claw back 40 odd mpg,
accroding to the Ad's....

aero has its part to play on them i guess...

I don't think that running lower boost would make that much difference to mpg, granted it would make a small difference. Good mpg is all about setting up the cruise, 15+ afr and high advance. That what makes the difference, imo.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

if you keep it out of boost it shouldnt be much worse than an n/a
my1275 did bout 35-40 ragged every where the 998 must have been over 50 but that was slow so i never bothered ragging it to death except maybe at avon last year

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

If cost is your primary motive,ignore b-series hondas and think 1.6 vauxhall/1.6-8 rover, Honda d16. ( sohc) these are the budget installs many people have done for under a grand including buying a donor car. B-series hondas are expensive from every angle, including insurance. Running wise a 16v mini will return figures like what the gents here have quoted when well set up.. So choice is yours really :) well built and set up either will return near 50mpg and be reliable, turbo obviously requiring less initial faffing to get up and going!

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

also i would take into acount that although you have most of the turbo bits you will most probably find that you need a few moew odds and ends to make it reliable like a cross pin diff for example and the mini engine will need servicing on a more regular basis.

I should point out what I'm trying to achieve here really, basically a quick daily mini that will not kill the bank account at the pumps. i.e take a modern powerful engine and bung it in an old light car.


The idea behind the turbo engine was that if the mpg was comparable then I could sacrifice some power and revs for the sake of the work and cost involved in building a vtec mini.

I think that you've already made your decision, you just need to justify the cost of the vtec motor. It will be better on cold mornings and last longer between services, its just the inital cost to get over.

You know what, I have driven a VTEC and although fun it was annoying after a while. I would argue that if you have driven a decent turbo mini you won't go back. It is the perfect match for the mini.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

i agree with Ben H, the cruise AFR is the right way forward to achieve MPG. i was running 10psi 9.1cr 1360cc and a 2.9FD. at cruise it gets about 14.5 to 15.5afr and when on boost about 11.5 to 12.5 and i managed a good 160miles to about £30 of high octance fuel (1 year ago) this included motorway driving (3,500rpm @ 70mph) and some town driving (heavy foot) i think 35mpg is more than adequate for an 8valve carb turbo!

Think of it this way. my mini did 35mph av and my mates rs did 22mpg av. and i can beat him in a drag race, muwhaha :) so for me this is what im happy with. if it can beat a car which has more power and less mpg its fine

i do alot of miles in the metro, so i jsut fitted a 2.7 FD......90% of my miles are motorway....

Can't tell you about town, but on a run i get high 30, if i'm careful. If you don't think it's much, then what other petrol cars that have 200+ brake get that same economy?

Best 1/4 mile 13.2 seconds @116 mph
First 5 port miniturbo to make over 200 bhp on a carb?
First 5 port miniturbo to make over 200 bhp on Injection?

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I have to say I think the economy figures mentioned sound pretty good, if economy is really that important to you go and buy a small diesel, other than that anything above 30 ish MPG from a petrol turbo sounds good in my book.

i must agree tom, usuall you only get an average driving steady of 26mpg

yeah like i said, i agree with tom. i was shocked that you were moaning at 40mpg!

my old clio (give to me) did about 42mpg and that was slower than a bus. 35-40mpg is top notch imo